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Although I would be glad that you found the painting to be amazing, I can assure you that I would be somewhat bored by your description. Nothing about you telling me that the painting was amazing would make me want to see it with my own two eyes. Now, let's say that instead you replied with this: "The multi-colored effects made it appear 3-D, as though the hands in the painting were trying to grab me and force me to take notice." I would most likely be intrigued at that point. You would have started to paint a scene in my mind. You would have piqued my interest.
This is what it means to show (rather than tell) in our writing. A story that says "Henry was angry" is not going to make me care at all about Henry. I can't visualize him. He's just an idea. However, if I make him realistic and show you how he was angry, I breathe life into him: "Henry's brow furrowed and his body tensed as his wife gathered her belongings, slammed the door, and walked out of his life forever." Now you're starting to care. Now I made Henry more real to you. Now you can visualize him, and you are interested in learning more about his story. Note that I didn't have to tell you that he was angry. I let you see his anger by referencing his furrowed brow and tensed body. When you paint a picture, you try to take what's inside of your head and put it down on paper so that the rest of the world can appreciate your creativity. The same goes for your writing. Your pencil becomes your paint brush and your words become the paints. Choose the wrong color of paint and your drawing loses its appeal. Choose to paint too little and leave the canvas too blank, and your drawing loses its value. Every choice counts.
Making the right choice is important in your classes as well. I cannot get over the fact that we are approaching our fourth and final term together! I look forward to seeing how you finish off your 6th grade experience. It is my hope that you strive to do your best, and, if you find that you are not doing your best, it is my hope that you will have the maturity to speak to me directly to see what can be done immediately. Now, especially, students need to really take responsibility for their own learning. I encourage people to view learning as a series of choices, because it is only then that students will recognize that they can influence their own grades for either better or worse. This does not mean that all of you are expected to achieve A’s, but it does mean that when you complete (or don’t complete) assignments, you've made a choice. When you study (or don’t study), you've made a choice. When you stay after school (or don’t stay after school), you've made a choice. When you check Edmodo daily (or don’t check Edmodo daily), you've made a choice. It is these collective choices that then determine a grade.
If a person goes over the speed limit, is that really a police officer's fault? No. If a person decides not to floss, is that really a dentist's fault? Of course not! In the same way, I can’t ultimately control whether each struggling student decides to stay after or read at home when I’m not around, but I can control my own actions so that each student feels inspired to do well and succeed. Indeed, teaching is a series of choices (just as learning is a series of choices). I purposely choose to write updates (even
on snow days and nights before vacation) in the hopes that parents/guardians/students will continuously stay informed. I
choose to allow students’ suggestions to be incorporated into my lessons in the hopes that they will feel involved and valued. I
choose to give a variety of assessments (openers, quizzes, projects, tests, writing assignments, binder checks, and homework) in the hopes that if a student may struggle in one area, he/she may be able to shine in another area. I choose to reach out to certain students whom I feel are in need of a “pep” talk in the hopes that they will take my sincere words for success and turn them into actions. As Zeus said in the Mythic Warriors video today, "The worth of a person is not measured by how many times they're knocked down, but by how many times they get back up." My advice to students wondering what they can do to improve in a new term is always this: “Don’t be afraid to start over.”
-Ms. Sanford
Parent Outreach: Here's an interesting article about how a whole community helps to develop beliefs about education: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/psyched/201208/developing-belief-systems-about-education-it-takes-village. As the article states, "Beliefs are developed largely through social modeling and direct messages that we receive from our surroundings." The more that we encourage young people to believe that education matters, the more likely they are to succeed!